Colour filters with DSLRs?

[Colin500]

Hi All,


after reading "The Negative", and looking at some of my b/w landscape photos, I was wondering whether the combination of a colour filter (in particular yellow or orange) with a DSLR is something that is "accepted practice", or whether it just doesn't work properly, given that a DSLR's pixels are each "coloured"...


…however I am really interested in having greater control over the colour-to-b/w conversion that is, in some way, required to obtain a b/w image. The first step of control is to choose the exact mix of rgb data from which the b/w image is made, but it's clear that a filter on the lens that works on the continuous spectrum, rather than the three quantised colour channels, can never be fully simulated in software.


Any experiences? Is it worth a filter when it doesn't (mostly) coincide with the colour of one of the colour triplets?


Thanks & Regards, Colin

[Daniel Browning]

Color filters are of little use for DSLRs in B&W photography for precisely the reason you guessed: the Bayer color filter array. The only effect of a color filter is to change the relative signal level between color channels to decrease noise and increase dynamic range -- but that applies to color photography as well as B&W.

[btaylor]

I received a huge array of coloured filters with Photoshop CS4 [:P]


I'd suggest the best way to adjust the way your B&W images look would be during post processing with curves and colour channels.

[Colin500]

Color filters are of little use for DSLRs in B&W photography […]

Right, then I'll rather get a CPL filter and play with that, rather than a yellow filter for B&W landscapes with a DSLR.


Colin

[malfunctions]

In my opinion, the greater effect is gained from the use of a polarising filter. Any direct effect of colour 'subtraction' through a filter can be achieved through photoshop or any other manipulation system which codes to grey scale. Says me who has at least an 81B on most times...

[btaylor]

Agreed. You cannot replicate the effect of a polarising filter.